Walking toy



J. DAVIS ET AL May 14, 1935.-

' WALKING TOY I Filed. June 13, l932 fzvzrzvz'aas Emu 209M A M/w AIZYEPatented May 14, 1935 WALKING TOY Joseph Davis and Donald J. Davis,Chicago, Ill., assignors, by mesne assignments, to Walkem Corporation,Chicago, 111., a corporation of Illinois Application June 13, 1932,Serial No. 616,893

11 Claims.

Our invention relates totoys, and particularly to a toy designed tofunction by the force of gravity. It relates to a toy, which, after oncegiven momentum, will automatically operate on a surface of slightdeclivity and provide an amusing toy with novel features.

An object of our invention is to provide an interesting toy so designedas to present, when operating, a characteristic life-like appearance ofquadruped animals in action without means other than gravity for motivepower.

Another object of our invention is to provide, in a toy simulating ananimal, means for attaching the, legs of said animal to its body andhaving them operate first on one side and then on the other in a mannerwhich adapts our construction to not only animals of the biped type butto'many other types including the centipedes and millipedes. Obviously,this construction then can be adapted to produce many amusing forms ofmovements characterizing and caricaturing different animals.

Yet another object of our invention is in providing legs readilyattachable and detachable to an interchangeable universal duplex hinge,which may be repositioned to different'parts of the animals body as aunit. Also, the legs and hinges are separately interchangeable thusproducing a low manufacturing cost of a manifold variety of toys as wellas other advantages herein mentioned.

A further object of our invention is to provide means, in ,a hingeconnecting parts of a toy, for varying the fiexibilityof the connectedparts with respect tov each other by changing their relative positions.

Also an object is in providing a thin sheet of flexible material such ascelluloid so cut as to form an effective and inexpensive hinge forjoining in flexible relationship the several parts of the toy.

Another object of our invention is in providing a construction soarranged that it performs its functions effectively without the use andadjustment of artificial weights, which phase of the construction isagain conducive to low cost of manufacture.

Still another object in our invention is in providing a novel hingeprovided with means for distributing the contortion in the hinge betweentwo parts of said hinge, and providing, by such means, a more sensitivehinge.

Still further objects of our invention are in providing a toy easy ofassembly, simple yet effective in operation, economical to produce,

and convenient through'its demountable parts to ship. 7 .7 1

Other objects and advantages will be hereinafter pointed out, and for afurther; under,- standing of the characteristics and novel merits of ourinvention, reference may be had to the following drawing andspecification:-

In the drawing:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of our invention with parts assembled.

Fig. 2 is a front elevational view delineating the device on an incline.

Fig. 3 is a side elevational view showing the toy in operation on anincline.

Fig. 4 is a perspective detail view of the hinge used in our invention.

In referring more specifically to the drawing, Fig. 1 shows ourinvention in its inactive or starting position, in which 5 is a hinge ofcomparatively thin, sheet, resilient material detachably supported inslits i of body 5, said body being of sheet material, or otherwisesuitably constructed for attachment of said hinges. Hinges 5 arepreferably in the form illustrated and provided on each side, extendingupwardly from the bottom edge, with a relatively small and a relativelylarge groove 9 and ii] respective: ly. The hinges detachably supportlegs 8 and 8a which are suspended in flexible longitudinal oscillatoryrelation thereto, thus allowing a 1ongitudinal reciprocating motion ofsaid legs independent of each other. A, centrally located groove Hextends downwardly from the upper edge of hinge 5 and is somewhat widerthan the body 6, which it receives, to prevent friction between edges IIand body 6. r

Fig. 2 shows two extreme positions of the toy in its transverse rockingmovement. When a slight sidewise impetus is imparted to the toy it willcontinue to rock'and be alternately sup ported momentarily by legs 8and, to. as. shown by the solid-line and dotted line figures. Furthere,as the toy moves from one side to the other on incline t2 the tendencythrough its own weight is to travel downward, in which reaction the pairof legs 3, as shown in contact with support I2, direct the downwardmotion of the body 6 and the legs 8a to swing and pivot about thesupporting legs 3. The converse occurs when the legs 8c are in contactwith the support l2.

Fig. 3 shows the toy in operation down an incline I2, in which the twolegs 8 are momentarily supporting the body 6 and functioning, in tandemand substantially parallel relation,

while the two momentarily suspended legs 80., functioning in the samerelation, are in a sprung position on their hinges 5. The weight of thebody 6 has caused all parts except the two contacting legs 8 togravitate forward, thus resulting in the momentary flex backward of theadjoining section of the hinges 5 while at the same time the oppositesection of the hinges 5 have served, in the gravitating action of thebody 6, to bring the legs 8a forward. As soon as the body 6 rocks fromthe contacting position of the legs 8, the hinge sections supportingthese legs spring forward, the body 6 gravitates further, and the hingesections supporting the legs Ga then assume the backward flexingposition.

While, in our invention, the legs 8 are so attached by hinge 5 to body 6as to be freely oscillatable in one plane independent of each other, inthe operation of the toy, the legs collaborate in tandem pairs and insubstantially parallel relation, the pairs alternating from one side tothe other in their action as the body and legs as a unit oscillatetransversely.

When the toy is set upon an inclined surface and given a slighttransverse rocking motion, as it is momentarily flexibly supported bytwo legs, as shown in Fig. 2, the body and opposite pair of legs of thetoy lunge downwardly and forward radially about a fulcrum point providedby the pair of supporting legs, at a rate depending upon the magnitudeof the downward and forward corresponding vector diagrams (not shown).Besides the declivity of the surface 62 the position of the center ofgravity of the toy is a governing factor in the reaction of the toy.

When the rocking motion places one pair of legs in contact with theincline [2 the opposite pair of legs then suspended springs forward byvirtue of the tension in the hinges. Concurrently, due to the downwardand forward proclivity of its weight acting about a fulcrum pointprovided by the pair of supporting legs 8, the toy swings downward andforward. As the other pair of legs come in contact with the incline theopposite pair of legs are suspended and free to oscillatelongitudinally; and, the phase just described repeats itself until thetoy reaches the end of the incline.

Weclaim:

l. A toy comprising a body, a plurality of legs, and a plurality ofresilient hinges of flat thin flexible material, said hinges beingprovided with cut-out portions for slidably and detachably mounting saidbody and legs on said hinges.

2. A toy comprising a body, four legs, and resilient hinges of flat thinsheet flexible material, said hinges being provided with cut-outportions for slidably and detachably mounting said body and legs on saidhinges, said hinges being provided with other cut-out portions forincreasing the flexibility of said hinges.

3. A toy comprising a body, four legs and resilient hinges of thin sheetflexible material, said body and legs being provided with slits at theirlower and upper extremities respectively for attachment to said hinges,said hinges being provided with cut-out portions for slidably anddetachably mounting said body and legs to said hinges, said hinges beingprovided with other cut-out portions for increasing the flexibility ofsaid hinges.

4. A toy comprising a body and four legs of thin sheet material, andresilient hinges of fiat relatively thin sheet flexible materialdisposed in a substantially upright and transverse position with respectto said body for flexibly connecting said legs to said body to allowindependent movement of said legs with respect to said body in adirection parallel to said body.

5. A toy comprising a body, four legs and two resilient hinges, each ofsaid hinges having means for connecting two of said legs in spacedrelation to each other and in flexible relation to said body..

6. A toy comprising a body simulating that of an animal, a plurality oflegs, a plurality of resilient hinges of flat thin sheet flexiblematerial disposed in a substantially upright and transverse positionwith respect to said body, each hinge connecting a pair of said legs tosaid body.

7. A toy comprising a body simulating that of an animal, a plurality oflegs, and a plurality of interchangeable flexible hinges. connectingsaid legs in pairs to said body, each hinge connecting a pair of saidlegs to said body, and each leg being movable independently of the otherlegs.

8. A toy comprising a body, a plurality of non-resilient legs, and aflat sheet flexible hinge connecting a pair of said legs in spacedrelation with respect to each other to said body.

9. A toy comprising a body simulating that of an animal, a plurality oflegs, a plurality of resilient hinges of flat thin sheet flexiblematerial disposed in a substantially upright and transverse positionwith respect to the body, said hinges being provided with a means forconnecting said legs in pairs in spaced relation with respect, to eachother to said body.

10. A toy comprising a body, a plurality oi legs, and a single resilienthinge provided with

